OlderAlessia Cara Pens Essay About Her Struggle With Hair Loss
Alessia Cara is getting candid about overcoming insecurities.
The 20-year-old “Here” singer penned an essay for Glamour about her biggest beauty struggle.
On losing her hair: “In late elementary school, early high school, I started losing my hair in chunks in the shower. It was one of the scariest things. It got to the point where it was visibly gone. I struggled with that a lot, especially going into high school. You have so many pressures�what people are going to think of you�and I was going into it losing all my hair. I had, like, nothing left. It was patches of missing hair that people would point out, because people are mean in high school.”
On learning to accept her hair: “I was constantly looking for hairstyles to hide the bald spots. And I didn’t know why it was happening. I just kept thinking, ‘Why am I so young and having to deal with this?’ I didn’t want people to look at me, I didn’t want people to get too close. Even now, I struggle with it; sometimes, you can see that my hair is missing in some spots. I have just learned how to accept it. Being in the public eye, you’re always worried about what angle people are going to take pictures of you at. I don’t really care anymore. I just let my hair dry naturally; I don’t hide it.”
On the inspiration behind “Scars to Your Beautiful”: “I want ‘Scars to Your Beautiful’ to reach different types of women. The girl I am talking about, it’s me, it’s you�it’s every girl who has struggled with feeling not good enough. I want to talk about all the different extremes that girls go through to feel beautiful.”
On going makeup-free for every performance of the track: “We decided that every performance I do of ‘Scars,’ every interview I do about it, I am not going to be wearing any makeup, because how could I be preaching a song about being yourself and being beautiful and perfect the way you are�and have a full face of makeup? I want to show people that I am comfortable enough to go on national television and just be myself. It would only feel right if I am 100 percent me.”
To read Alessia‘s full essay, head over to Glamour.com.
